The representative of the National Security Council of the White House, John Kirby, confirmed that there is a "small US military presence" in the American embassy in Ukraine.
He stated this in a comment on Fox News.
"I will not talk about specific numbers and so on. But to get to your specific question, there is a small U.S. military presence at the embassy in conjunction with the Office of the Defense Attaché to help us work on the accountability of materials coming in and out of Ukraine," Kirby said, referring to weapons and other support, which the USA transfers to Ukraine.
He added that these troops "do not fight on the battlefield." Fox News adds that US forces in Kyiv are also providing "security services" (probably referring to embassy security).
The leaked secret documents of the Pentagon contained information that foreign military personnel are present in Ukraine, the BBC writes. According to the March 23 document, Great Britain has the largest contingent of Special Forces in Ukraine (50), followed by other NATO countries Latvia (17), France (15), the United States (14) and the Netherlands (1). The document does not say where the forces are located and what they do.
Latviaʼs Ministry of Defense has already said that Latvia has sent troops to Ukraine to "perform certain support functions," including guarding the embassy in Ukraine and guarding cargo, but they are not participating in hostilities.
- On April 6, it became known that classified military documents related to the counteroffensive of the Defense Forces of Ukraine in the war against Russia were published on social networks (Twitter and Telegram). The published documents seem to differ from the initial version — they overestimate American estimates of the losses of the Ukrainian army and underestimate the probable number of Russians killed. But the photos of schedules of arms deliveries, the number of troops and battalions, and other plans look authentic. The Pentagon is conducting its own investigation.
- On April 7, it became known that the second batch of secret documents of the American authorities was published on the network. It refers not only to Ukraine, but also the activities of the USA in the Indo-Pacific region, in the Middle East, actions to fight terrorism, and rivalry with China.
- On April 9, Bellingcat reported that documents from the Pentagon began to appear on the Internet as early as January 2023 on some Discord servers where video game fans chatted.
- On April 10, the Pentagon confirmed that due to the leak of documents, "very sensitive, secret" information became public.